08 December 2008

The one man show + others

Well, I did it. I finally did my own one-man stand-up comedy show in Cantonese! I was officially on stage for 45 minutes that night! 45 minutes! The last longest time I'd done was 24 minutes! And the best thing is, it was sold out which meant 140+ people packed in the cozy room of TakeOut Comedy in Soho! Boy it was fun!Now as you may have noted on the poster, the show was on 29 November 2008. And today's already 8 December 2008. And I'm sure as you guessed, the reason for the late blog entry was... my being busy. The truth is, I really am! So much has been happening in just these last few days! I got my one-man show done. I performed bi-lingual shows a few times for different corporate/charity events! I'm one of the personalities for a new ad campaign at havemybank.com. My band, Eve of Sin, played at Underground 73 and the Yamaha Asian Beat Competition (we didn't win, we're a metal band after all :P), I'm eating extra healthy and feel more energized than ever :) Yep, a lot has happened recently!

So what about being stressed out? Well, to be honest, I've reached a point where I don't feel overly-stressed because I know I can deal with whatever is thrown my way. Especially with my proper diet and working out, I'm energized and focused enough to get anything done. The only issue is having the time to get all that stuff done. The coolest thing now is that with my proper eating, I'm energized as hell during the day but when it comes to bed time, my body just crashes completely, which I admit, is indeed a good thing because I used to have trouble sleeping properly before and now when it hits 1am, I'm just plain exhausted and burnt out of fuel. I strongly suggest anyone who's feeling down energy or mood-wise to stop trying to "relax" and start trying to eat better. After all, garbage in, garbage out right?

To be honest, the more I research about proper nutrition, the more I realize how important it is to anyone, let it be a biker or just your average Joe. A lot of people spend so much money on ointments or spas to feel better, but all this is external work. Without a healthy core from deep inside, all you're doing is trying to cure the problems caused by your weak core. I don't just mean this by the food in your gut, but also your fitness level. A lot of people at my gym will work the hell out of their upper body (specifically chest and arms) and forget about their legs, especially their core. Ok, so you'll see a whole load of guys doing crunches but what about your oblique muscles? Lower back? Back? Rear shoulders (deltoids)? So many people are so caught up in looking good in the mirror, they don't realize they forgot the other part of themselves that the mirror doesn't show.

Which brings me back to nutrition. This a silent factor that a lot of people don't discuss because everyone assumes it's not that important. I was doing a bit of research about staying in tip-top alert mode and nutrition is a factor that always seems to be an issue in regard to this topic and basically staying in good condition. Like for my stand-up comedy. If I'm mentally exhausted, no matter how funny I am, the audience will feel it and the energy will not bounce and the laughter will not be roaring. With good food, I'm able to stay more focused and also energized and chances are I'll think faster too which makes my witty come-backs all the more possible :) Along with that, I'm sure it also affects my drumming abilities. After all, drumming is, in a way, like a sport and much like my fitness, this could be counted in the same category as Cardio, so I really ought to treat it the same way, focusing on making sure I give my body like an hour after meals before I get into it and also giving my body the right post-drum-workout nutrition.

I've been keeping track of my daily food intake and boy has that helped! If it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have realized that I actually don't eat enough protein for my body to properly grow! I strongly suggest that you do the same and realize what's lacking if you feel like your not achieving that physical goal you've always dreamed of. My current fitness phase is still cutting and toning so I'm not expecting to have guns on my arms any time now, but I can say that having kept track of what I eat has helped me immensely, especially at times when I feel like nibbling on some food (which is less and less now), I'll know if it's really my body in need of calories or me being greedy.

So there we go, a well overdue Day 10 entry but this time instead of the mental aspect of life or the perspective on seeing your next challenge, we talked about nutrition, which to me, is really a big factor in my well-being now. I hope it helps you out and within the next 10 days helps liven up your every day :) Oh and if I'm late for my next entry, which I think I will be, then Happy Holidays! :D